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Children of War: Lurking Shadows
Children of War: Lurking Shadows Opening the Book Glynda helped the team navigate the tunnel they had fell into to what appeared a wider network of catacombs linking up with various pathways leading both to the surface and somehow deeper underground. Finding a more comfortable spot, they made camp at the mouth of one said exit of the Labyrinth and made a campfire. With very little of terms of wildlife in the surrounding outdoors and very little Grimm they visited since battling the Minotaur, they had found a measure of peace in their caution riddled states. One of the things the Huntress had admired was their way of adapting to a situation at hand, no matter how jarring the circumstances and only dealing with ramifications afterwards. It was this way when the secret of Rohan's nature was brought to light to his own team. While she had been informed of his state of being not long after he told members of Team Juniper and Mockingbird, his own team was going to handle things differently. Anthony seemed to take this with surprise, but with begrudging acknowledgement from her observation. Elisha was the most open with acceptance and been a good shoulder for any of the team to lean on when left vulnerable. Of course, the one with the most trust issues was the one who was hurt and skeptical of all; Seth. Only when a good hour had past did the silence really sink in. She knew why, this was a awkward subject to bring up and anything of this huge in development was a lot to digest. To explain right away could have had merit, but to will it to the surface was going to be difficult. Still, she tried to subtly show her support of the quiet boy and show him that if all things fail, he can trust her to guide him in the right path. "Rohan," She began, finally cutting the tension like a sudden slash of a knife, turning her composed demeanor to rein in any possible hostility the team could have -justified or not- towards the long-haired young man. "I know this is something you don't want to bring to light, but I assure you, this is the best time as any to shed some light on your past. Given what your squad has witnessed, a little explanation is understandable. Everyone has secrets they wish to keep hidden; this time, that secret isn't so secret, so this deserves to be talked about." "...I understand." Rohan answered, his voice quiet. He took in a deep breath, directing a solemn gaze to his teammates sitting on the opposite side of the fire. Folded hands twiddled thumbs, his mind racking for a good way to start off his confession. The fear of rejection arose in his head again. But a part of him insisted that by this point, it was nothing but irrational. After all, Nora and Ren had been willing to accept him. But this moment with his team would be the second time he openly divulged his secret to anyone. It was scary, and he felt like not going through with it. But if he didn't do it now, when would it come? "Where would you like me to start?" He asked his three teammates. "How's about explaining how you did that Dust trick?" Seth was the first one to speak up. Although his tone conveyed mostly annoyance, it was laced with a bit of bitterness. "I mean, I'm sure there are people out there with weirder abilities than that. But turning your whole self into a big old dust cloud? That just ain't human." He paused, his mouth curling. "Or Faunus, for that matter." "That is because," Rohan muttered, mentally shaking himself before finishing his sentence. "I'm not human or Faunus." Sure enough, that warranted looks of surprise and scrutiny. But so far, none of them looked hostile. Instead, they showed confusion and even a little bit of disbelief. "Prior to James Ironwood's rise to General and Headmaster of Atlas Academy," Rohan explained, his eyebrows furrowing and his gaze shooting over the campfire to the eyes of his team. "There was a secret project created out of the boundaries of law. It was titled "Project Sandstorm", a program meant to create a series of "super soldiers" to be used on the battlefield. The use of these soldiers would not only increase the combat effectiveness within an army, but reduce problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, crippling injuries and more. They were meant to be a symbol of victory for those they sided with and a baron to the ones that they fought against. But in order for them to rise to that level of potential, they had to be raised and taught." "Child soldiers." Anthony breathed, wincing when he saw Rohan flinch slightly. He opened his mouth to apologize, but was cut off by Rohan's continuation. "A team of four scientists raised their own series in a bid to see who could come up with the best soldier." Rohan's eyes fell to the campfire as he spoke, his gaze flickering slightly. "The first series was composed of artificial machines made from metal, not unlike the mass-produced Atlesian Knights. But because of the limited potential robots had in terms of intelligence and constant malfunctions, that series was shut down rather quickly." Seth scoffed, giving a smirk. "Bet the guy who headed that was pissed off big time, huh?" "The second series was composed of humanoid beings made almost entirely out of Dust." Rohan continued. "Out of the four series, the second was considered to be the most successful. If one dubbed the project Sandstorm as a practice of alchemy, then the second series would be called "homunculi". These homunculi were able to learn a lot more and behave in a more human manner than their predecessors. But because they were essentially infants upon creation, they had to be taught starting from the basics. This cost time and money - both of which they didn't have much of, despite how useful the second series proved themselves out to be." "Rohan." Elisha interrupted, his voice soft. His arms were folded in his sleeves, and he was regarding his teammate with clear concern. "Are you saying that you were apart of this second series? It would explain--" "No," Rohan cut off, closing his eyes for a moment and taking in a breath. "I wasn't apart of that. But there was another I knew, one of the individuals that we encountered at the docks and at that White Fang meet. His name is Fehin, designated as DEV-204." Elisha furrowed his eyebrows. "Fehin...?" "I think he's talking about the dark-dressed guy who was with Harkin." Anthony supplied, frowning and looking over at Elisha and Seth. His arms folded across his chest, and an eyebrow was raised. "Pretty sure that compared to the rest of his crew, he'd stand out." Elisha let out a "tsk!", frowning and turning his head away. One of his hands gently touched his cheek. "Ah..." He grumbled, glaring a little. "Now I remember. He was the one that ambushed me, Sun and Blake before we could make our escape. Struck us down with only a few blows..." "Wait a minute, seriously?" Seth balked, regarding his samurai companion with disbelief. "A few blows? As in, a kick and a punch? For the three of you?" "He also overwhelmed me and Penny back at the docks." Rohan added solemnly, earning Seth's surprised eye. "Okay, now you have to be talking shit!" Seth insisted, swinging his eyes from teammate to teammate. "I mean, come on! You and Penny took out several Bullheads by yourselves! There's no way that just one dude, as suped up as he is, could've held his own against all of that!" He faltered a little in his disbelief, looking more and more uncertain in his own words. "R...Right?" Rohan's gaze darkened as he regarded Seth. "As I said. The second series was the most successful out of the four. Be glad that the project was killed before that success could prosper."